EVEN AN OLD DOG CAN LEARN NEW TRICKS is my new motto instead of the old quote of YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS.
My new focus for the blog is leaving the life lessons and funny stories to the archives which my loyal readers can access over 800 posts. They will be there for casual reading and reference. I do marketing and research for a living, write fiction for my escape with two books published, and cook for my family and friends.
I have blogger friends who are more clever than me and they have found a great way to move their blogs forward with new readers and sponsors. I will be pulling from their resources to get fresh useful information. As always I will put my out of the box thinking into the articles.
I hope you will welcome this new venue for a blog and I appreciate all of the followers that like and make comments. It is the interaction between readers and I welcome questions and feedback.
Please give me a few days or a week to introduce the new version of my blog and I don’t think you will be disappointed.
……..Until We Blog Again,
Arline Miller, blogger of Sipping Cups of Inspiration and author of A Mistress, A Wife and Tell Me Lies; Love Me Still (C) Copyright 2012-2017 with rights and privileges reserved.
Title photo is courtesy of TimesFreePress.com and is not owned by Blog.
TODAY THE WORDS are WHY SHOULD I? No, I am not getting on a soap box for any particular issue, “why should I?” Gotcha on that one, didn’t I ? What I am going to ask you and myself this morning is “why shouldn’t I?” In this life, we are blessed with so many things and no matter your faith unless you are an Atheist, you know that a higher power exists who gives you these blessings.
What do we have to do to receive blessings, you might ask? I feel, and you may feel differently, we are blessed by God for many reasons. Some are blessings that God gives to all of us, such as the beauty of the earth, the warmth of the sun, the waters, the soil, etc. Some are blessings we may not fully understand why some of us are born to parents of common wealth, while others are born to wealthy parents with that “silver spoon”. Some of us are born healthy while others have to struggle coming into this world and the struggling continues during their sometimes short lives. Others are taken out of this life early by either fatal health conditions while others are taken by tragedy. Now, starts the questioning, Why should I? People of all cultures, walks of life, wealth, health, have someone they have lost and that certainly doesn’t seem like a blessing and one starts to wonder why should I try, why should I accomplish anything, or why should I overcome my loss?
If all went well, and blessings were not taken away sometimes, would we appreciate all of the good things as much?
Now for my deeper thought…..Let me give you my take on this, which are my thoughts entirely, but when rain has fallen for days or weeks and the Sun has been behind the clouds; our spirits become more subdued. We have a tendency to forget our pleas for much needed rain and wonder when the Sun is going to shine. How soon we forgot to continue to praise Him for giving us the rain? The Sun finally peeps out from behind the clouds and we thank God for the Sun. Do we continue to thank God for all things, the rain and the Sun? Our health is good and then something changes, and we have to go through a sickness. God blesses us to recover and we thank Him. But “why should I” continue to thank God afterwards? And I say, “Why shouldn’t I?” To all of us, we should thank God and praise God for every little thing as it is important in the long term life, for us to be conscious of every breath, every accomplishment, every stride, every recovery, every avoidance of tragedy. God listens to our prayers and within those prayers of asking for His mighty blessings or His Eternal Grace, “Why Shouldn’t God hear Thank You for Your Blessings on Me and Others?” I SHOULD!
And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
(c) copyright 2012-2017 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission.
TODAY THE WORDS are HASTE MAKES WASTE. THIS IS A RE POST FROM 2012 AND HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR PAGE VIEWS.
Somehow, this morning when it seems as if I didn’t have enough time to do all I have to do before I go to work. I felt an urge to speed up everything I was doing, rushing through the tasks ahead, feeling a little flustered, and wondering if I would have enough time to write the blog and then it hit me as to the topic I needed to write and “Haste makes waste” was at the forefront of my thoughts. In my lifetime, and probably several of you are going to agree with my thoughts, I have allowed pressure from outside sources to overwhelm me and I have wasted a lot of my positive energy while I was in the “tizzy” state of mind. How many times have you tried to get in a hurry, only to drop things, forget things and generally end up getting farther behind. Oh, I have many times. Whew, let me breathe….have you felt that way? We sometimes over promise and it causes us to sometimes under deliver. We are not physically or even mentally super heroes, and this causes us to be coming up short if we allow ourselves to try to be superheroes.
I thought about the 3 things drop theory and I know all of you have heard it…If you drop one thing, you will continue dropping things until you have dropped 3 things before this saga ends. Today, why don’t we try it out by dropping Worry, Anger, and Sadness! This should take care of the day and allow us to pick up Happiness. God wants and asks us to turn the overwhelming issues over to Him and we should listen. In my life, when I have turned it over to Him, it amazed me how quickly wrongs were made right and old things passed away and there was a brand new day and life.
There is a deeper thought to this message….We have a Super Hero and it is God. He doesn’t tire easily or at all; He doesn’t sleep; He needs no diet to keep him healthy and fit; and He is without weakness or sickness. Why not allow God to handle the things that we find so worrisome. If we take these things like worrying, fretting, or holding grudges, etc. out of our agenda, how much more time would we have to enjoy the good things in life?
LIVE LIFE, LOVE LIFE, AND LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST BY TAKING THE TIME TO DO ALL THINGS WITH CONSCIOUSNESS AND GOODWILL.
(C) Copyright 2012-2017 Arline Miller with rights and privileges reserved. Third party material sourced to original location for reference credit.
TODAY THE WORDS are A SUNRISE LIKE NO OTHER. Throughout our lives, we have witnessed may sunrises, some more outstanding than others. Some of us may have, as on this special occasion attended sunrise ceremonies, to see how miraculous each sunrise is and how unique the sun can alter its magnificent appearance. We take photographs of the first peek of the sun rising above the land, lake, mountain or ocean and expressions of excitement or a quite, reverent sigh comes out of our mouths. I have been known to hug when it bursts from the bottom and starts its powerful climb into the sky.
Sunrises are awesome but this morning as so many Easter mornings, my heart goes to the sunrise like no other which I want to believe had to occur when Jesus rose from the tomb. As humbly as Jesus lived, even His resurrection and appearance to Mary Madeline was quiet and demure. However, I believe God was beyond happy, beyond excited, and beyond control of being quiet and was bursting with pride as a Father would be and had to “show out” with the most brilliant, most illustrious sunrise. The clouds from the gloomy Good Friday were pushed back and the skies had to be that blue which only God can produce and allow God’s creative sunrise to shine through. It makes me think this special sunrise almost would hurt the viewer’s eyes but it had to be so incredible, the viewer could also not turn away. I would think people who were awake might even give the other person with them a hug.
Photos are courtesy of Easter Sunrise, Mark, and Faye Raper
Something special about this day would be on their minds, but for my deeper thought….Were they aware of how special and how their lives would be forever changed by this sunrise and the events which had taken place? Do we, as people realize that no matter how people who try to change the truth of the real meaning of Easter, fail in the final attempt? As each sunrise occurs, the same glory God felt on that first Easter is present today and what changed with that sunrise that was like no other is present today. When you have seen a beautiful sunrise, and your heart feels it is like no other; I think it may be God reminding us of His Son’s Resurrection and pathway for our salvation. Enjoy Easter; enjoy each sunrise and sunset; and recognize God’s beauty in all of these things.
EASTER FEATURED BIBLE VERSE:
Mark 16
5 They entered the tomb. As they did, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe. He was sitting on the right side. They were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. But he has risen! He is not here! See the place where they had put him. 7 Go! Tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. It will be just as he told you.’”
(c) copyright 2012-1017 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission. Third party material sourced to original location for reference credit.
TODAY THE WORDS are THE TIME IN BETWEEN. We have obligations, appointments, meetings, scheduled events, etc. which have specific times set aside throughout our days, weeks, and months. We write them down and plan to be on time and sometimes we schedule several places to be on the same day to make the most of our time. While doing this, we have some unavoidable down time or some time in between. We find ourselves with a half hour, an hour or sometimes two with nothing to do. What do we do with our time in between two events?
Some of us bring our iPads, books, puzzles, etc. and fill our time either wisely or just idling with very little productivity. This made me have a deeper thought about this Easter holiday. When the events occurred on Good Friday and with the promise from Jesus to His followers He would rise on the third day; how did they fill the time in between? Did they sit around and mourn Jesus’s death as we do today when one of our loved ones die? The tomb was sealed so they could only visit the outside. Did they stay watchful or did they have the confidence to wait the days out? How did the conversation go between all of the disciples? Did they fear their safety knowing others had seen the Lord’s strength during his torturous death? Did they reminisce about His miracles Jesus had performed? How did they fill the time in between? All of us may know what happened on Easter Sunday with all of the celebration and miraculous resurrection; but my mind has been directed to the time in between and here is what I feel.
Our lives are actually time in between. We are born into this world and then we die. All of our life is this time between birth and death and what we do is important to prepare for our resurrection into Eternity. How do we fill our time in between or in other words, what do we do with our lives? Do we fill our time with productivity and good works or do we idly fill our time with nonsense and useless activities? Do we learn, earn, live, and love? Do we reach out to help others find their way? We are taught about Good Friday and Easter, but I think we need to spend some of our time understanding how important the time in between was. Life is here for us and while we show reverence and love for Jesus’s sacrifice for us; let us use our time in between wisely. Happy Easter to all and a Happy In Between Time to fill with goodness.
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
(c) copyright 2012-2017 Arline Lott Miller. The material here copyrighted, use only by permission. Third party material is sourced to original location for reference credit.
CAN WE HAVE A YARD SALE OF LIFE? This past weekend presented a lot of opportunity to reflect on life and you might ask Why? My husband and I started about two weeks prior to this even going through closets and our attic to preserve AND eliminate items from our mass amount of collections. We joked and laughed about hoarding (not making light of this human disorder as we know it is a serious condition).
As we cleaned, culled and stored items we wanted to keep, it became clear to us, we weren’t as “pure and clean” in our housekeeping and the journey took a clear turn for us. We began to cull more and save less and not to produce any money from the sale. It turned into a cleansing of our home from those items never used and/or forgotten. By going through all of the boxes and bags, we re-discovered many items we had forgotten their location and put them in a more predominant place which would allow us to use them. We found items we should have never purchased as they might have sounded like they were valuable only to find out they were worthless to us and were taking up space in our home.
Then came the day of the sale and we were astonished at the items that we had discarded being very desirable by others. Items we thought others would “fight” over were there when the sale was finished. This process brought a thought to my mind. None of us see the same value or priority as others. We decide, only us, what is important and what is “junk” so we have to make decisions based on individual importance and not the “main stream” philosophies of others.
Once the sale had ended, my husband and our handyman loaded up the rest of “our closely held” treasures to donate to the Salvation Army, I took a nap since all of the cleaning and selling with some new memories of the funny things that happen during a yard sale (which will be a later post to keep this message intact). When I heard Greg return, I looked in the garage and I had an epiphany. A yard sale is needed in our lives. Let me explain:
People would come into our home and would always make remarks about how clean our home was and how they didn’t understand how we work and keep it organized. Most guests don’t go into a home and plunder (with exceptions and that will be another blog). The reason for the misplaced compliments is they never saw the closet, cabinet, attic, and drawer clutter. That thought reminded me of how we present ourselves to others.
We have an outer shell or in other words “our clean houses” and hide so many things in corners, closets or other places we can hide our clutter in our souls. Once we start opening our hearts or “CLOSETS OF SPIRIT” and clean out the mess hidden such as old grudges, what we consider impossible to forgive acts, prejudices, hate of any kind, etc., the heart becomes more acceptable and has room for the pretty things in life: Love, Compassion, Kindness, Charity, Sympathy and Empathy, Forgiveness, and importantly, Faith with Thankfulness. I have decided the next cleaning out is in our inner self…our souls.
To sum it up, I walk into our closet and I see things clearly. I open drawers and I find peace without all of the confusion of tossing things around to find what I am looking for in the drawer. I can insert items easily once I have rid myself of the clutter which was discarded and now out of the way. May my soul become as organized as this closet.
For those wanting ideas on how to organize your closet: Go to:
I live my life by observing, meditating, and applying common sense life lessons. I don’t have a Master’s Degree but I do have a degree from Our Master to live life with love; love life with love; and to live life to the fullest by listening to the small, quiet voice coming from the Universe’s Most Elite College, God’s Universal University!
(C) Copyright 2012-2017 Arline Miller with all rights and privileges. Third party material is sourced to original location for reference credit.
DID YOU MAKE YOUR BED THIS MORNING? is inspired by two sources, one is from our dear Mother and then apparently a well known Admiral William McRaven who must have had the same precious mother. The reason for giving credit to our Mothers for the inspiration is the subject of this post.
‘MAKE YOUR BED’ BY ADMIRAL WILLIAM MCRAVEN
This morning, a news source was questioning last night’s airstrike and he had some intellectual response to their questions, but it was when he was asked about his book referenced above. I will read his book and check it out. I want to bring this message closer home for me and let’s see if you relate to his message but more personal to me….My Mother’s voice ringing in my ear.
Start the day by accomplishing a job in the morning by making up your bed. That was what she was meaning but I will relay the direct quote, “Get your bed made up. There is not going to be anything left undone.” As we grew up, we knew how to make a bed up and get it straight and everything tucked under and proper. It makes good sense if you accomplish a task and you do it well, other tasks fall in place; you learn to finish what you start; and to take pride in what you do. This brings me to the second part of the life lesson making a bed or any other job completed with pride. I found a memory quote from 2011 and I want to share it with you.
Think of the methodology used. It is precise steps. It is intentional. It is quick and efficient. It shows intent and pride as well as accomplishment. You can tell the difference than a thrown together and sloppy method. It reflects the character and determination of the person making this bed.
This thought provoking idea is one reason to check out Admiral McRaven’s book and to give this message a final thought.
To be successful it helps to:
Morning Motivation
Execution of a well laid plan
Accept the responsibility of the task
Review the method and end result
With this in mind, this blog author will share that writing the blog is as essential for me as making the bed. It encourages my personal innovation and inspiration. I hope reading it helps your day go better………Arline Miller
LIVE LIFE; LOVE LIFE; LOVE LIFE BY LIVING LIFE TO THE FULLEST by listening to those who have walked the walk and not just talked the talk.
(C) Copyright Arline Miller 2012-2017 with rights and privileges reserved. All third party material sourced to original location for reference credit.
This is a short blog post since I am in high gear to get everything ready for our Community Yard Sale and I really think we should rename this event to Maybe not Junk, Maybe Treasure Hunt! All I realize is getting ready is a lot of work but such a great feeling as those “esteemed possessions” go out the door. What was I thinking or was I not thinking? There is no need to have so many clothes I will never wear and it doesn’t seem possible for either of us, Greg or me, to get back into those slimmer clothes. The styles will have changed by the time, if ever, we do lose enough weight.
I found it interesting the items I could not part with and are still hanging in my closet. My wedding dress to Greg (not the one I had for the first and second wedding) has to be treasured so it is bagged and preserved. My original wedding gown was restored and worn by Missy and I see the pictures of her Daddy walking her up to the mesa meadows and her in the gown I wore when I married him and it was nostalgic. Okay, so that was worth saving even though the marriage couldn’t survive.
I have the dress I wore when I met Greg and I realized I have changed my style somewhat in all of those 17 years. I saved it to remember how styles may change, hairstyles and color may change, and I will admit it, weight changes. I want to remember that same feeling of love I instantly felt when I met him and still feel it when he walks into the room. Some items and certainly feelings should be kept and treasured.
Now that the dust has settled and I am down to the kitchen and utensils. I have given this some thought and I see that hard and cold utensils last a long time. It brought me to the fact we need to realize that hard feelings toward another are hard to soften and it is better to have a softer touch with people as grudges and hard feelings last a long time if you don’t cull them as soon as possible. Love, though soft, should be the long lasting tough feeling we go through life.
This gal has cleaned, dusted and thrown away a lot of materialistic “maybe junk, maybe treasure” and I came to the conclusion I wanted to share with all of you. Here it is:
In the closet of life, we accumulate a lot of collectives. We bring into our racks, friendships, accomplishment trophies and items to remember our failures. We assemble these items in what we consider our priority possessions. We go through them and use them periodically. What we fail to remember are certain items we have placed in corners of our life closet and their beauty may fade due to the collection of dust and negligence. Once in a while it pays each of us to go through our closet, take a neglected family member, friend, or neighbor out and dust them off. While we are doing this task, love will shine it and we can remember why we treasured it to begin with. Here is also a good tip, we place the frivolous item in our lives and it serves no valuable use and for some reason, it is a hard thing to let go. We keep re-hanging it in front of those wonderful items we have neglected and those frivolous non useful distractions keep us away from what is truly valuable. Time to have a Yard Sale or as I said “Maybe Not Junk, Maybe Treasure Hunt” and restore what is worthwhile in our lives.
(C) Copyright 2012-2017 Arline Miller with all rights and privileges reserved. Third party material sourced to original location for reference credit.
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